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French Fridays with Dorie: Honey-Spiced Madeleines
“In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines lived twelve little girls in two straight lines. In two straight lines they broke their bread and brushed their teeth and went to bed. They smiled at the good and frowned at the bad and sometimes they were very sad. They left the house at half past nine in two straight lines in rain or shine — the smallest one was Madeline”
– Opening lines from Ludwig Bemelmans’ Madeline
I know the madeleine connection is really through Proust, but this is what kept running through my mind as I baked…
I suppose I’m a bit of a hoarder in the kitchen. I have a pantry full of obscure ingredients, in addition to the usual staples. I’m ready to make lots of not yet discovered recipes on the spur of the moment. I also have a variety of cooking tools to be prepared for who knows what.
This is a long winded of way of saying that I have had a madeleine pan for over 20 years, and this week is the first time I’ve ever used it. In fact, I’d only even had a madeleine once before. That was last year when someone told me the madeleines at Starbuck’s were good. Why I’ve had this pan for so long and never actually used it is a mystery.
So, this week, for French Fridays with Dorie, the on-line cooking group I participate in, the recipe was Honey-Spiced Madeleines. What a perfect opportunity! I had all the ingredients, and the proper bakeware, too. Actually, I didn’t have an orange, but I did have a lemon, so I substituted lemon zest for orange.
The batter for the madeleines needs to rest before baking, at least 3 hours. As a convenience, Dorie suggests that you can fill the pan with batter and chill the pan. That’s what I did, chilling it overnight. In the morning, I preheated the oven and baked the madeleines while I ate breakfast. I brought them to work as a treat for my co-workers, who seemed to appreciate them.
When preparing the pan, I decided to brush melted butter onto the pan because I thought I’d get better coverage. I liked the way it worked out. As for getting the thick eggy batter into the pan, I took a tip from Sarah at Frankly Entertaining and piped the batter instead of spooning it. I wasn’t sure whether to smooth the tops or not, so I did some of each. It didn’t seem to make a difference either way.
Dorie calls the madeleines cookies, but I think they are more like little cakes. Having only had madeleines once before, I don’t have a good point of comparison, but I liked Dorie’s version. I liked their simple elegance, and they are lovely with a cup of tea. The flavors of the honey and spices weren’t very strong. (Maybe I should have added more.) I enjoyed these enough to experiment with other flavors, and I definitely won’t wait another 20 years to use that madeleine pan again – unless I end up buying a mini-madeleine to make tinier cakes. I’m tempted.
Usually, if you want the recipe for these French Friday posts, you have to buy the book, Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table. However, Dorie posted the recipe for the madeleines on her site, so you can find it here. Be sure to check out the other bloggers’ thoughts on this recipe at French Fridays with Dorie.
Happy First Day of Autumn!!!!
My Sweet Autumn Clematis welcoming the season
French Fridays with Dorie: Cinnamon-Crunch Chicken
French Fridays with Dorie started off September with a bang. I loved the first two recipes. I’ll admit up front that I wasn’t all that excited about this one: Cinnamon-Crunch Chicken, but I’ve learned to trust Dorie to be surprising, so I didn’t sit out this week and gave it a try.
It turned out that this recipe couldn’t have been simpler for a weeknight meal. First, you crush some cookies, LU Cinnamon Sugar Spice, which I love to snack on. You stir the cookies into crème fraiche, and set the sauce aside.
Then, you sauté strips of chicken in olive oil until they are cooked through and nicely browned. The recipe called for chicken breasts, but we’re more of a dark-meat household, so I used boneless thighs instead. Finally, you add the sauce to the pan, heat it to a boil, and let it bubble for a minute or so. Voila! That’s it!
I served the chicken over Dorie’s cardamom rice pilaf with a light green salad. Preparing the entire meal took less than half an hour from start to finish.
What was the verdict? It was mixed. I started with low expectations, but it was more interesting than I thought it would be. I liked the contrast of the tangy crème fraiche with the sweet cookies. While I’ve used crème fraiche in room temperature dishes before, I’ve never heated it up. As promised, it didn’t curdle, and the end result was a thick and creamy sauce. A little big of magic.
On the other hand, Howard said “I don’t think I like cinnamon in my dinner”. He ate it for dinner and took leftovers for lunch, but wasn’t a big fan. It was definitely worth a try, but probably won’t make it again.
On the up side, the recipe only used two cookies, so I get to munch on the rest of the box.
We don’t share the recipes, but you can find in Dorie Greenspan’s book Around My French Table. And, even though this wasn’t a favorite, I will still enjoy checking out what my fellow FFwD bloggers thought about the week’s recipe. They are a creative bunch. You can find their links at French Fridays with Dorie.
This weekend, I’m excited to be trying out Dorie’s new iPad “Baking with Dorie” app. I haven’t tried cooking with a computer tool at hand before. It’s actually Howard’s iPad, but if he likes what I choose to make, he’ll share. I’m not sure which recipe I’ll try first, but I’m thinking maybe the Peanut Butter Torte.
Other weekend plans include enjoying the “A Taste of Greece” festival at St. Nicholas, the local Greek Orthodox church, tonight. I look forward to the homemade food, and especially the desserts, every year. On Saturday, Howard and I will share a special dinner out to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary, which was yesterday. 19 happy years (the first one didn’t count) and many more to come!
A Plateful of Happiness 